A Predictive Model for Acute Kidney Injury Based on Leukocyte‐Related Indicators in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit

<b>Background:</b> This study aimed to develop and validate a straightforward clinical risk model utilizing white blood cell (WBC) counts to predict acute kidney injury (AKI) in critically sick patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). <b>Methods:</b> Data were taken from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV (MIMIC-IV) database for the training cohort. Data for an internal validation cohort were obtained from the eICU Collaborative Research Database (eICU-CRD), while patients from our hospital were utilized for external validation. A risk model was created utilizing significant indicators identified through multivariate logistic regression, following logistic regression analysis to determine the primary predictors of WBC-related biomarkers for AKI prediction. The Kaplan-Meier curve was employed to evaluate the prognostic efficacy of the new risk model. <b>Results:</b> A total of 1628 critically sick HCC patients were enrolled. Among these, 23 (23.2%) patients at our hospital, 84 (17.9%) patients in the eICU-CRD database, and 379 (35.8%) patients in the MIMIC-IV database developed AKI. A unique risk model was developed based on leukocyte-related indicators following the multivariate logistic regression analysis, incorporating white blood cell to neutrophil ratio (WNR), white blood cell to monocyte ratio (WMR), white blood cell to hemoglobin ratio (WHR), and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR). This risk model exhibited robust predictive capability for AKI, in-hospital mortality, and ICU mortality across the training set, internal validation set, and external validation set. <b>Conclusion:</b> This risk model seems to have practical consequences as an innovative and accessible tool for forecasting the prognosis of critically ill HCC patients, which may, to some degree, aid in identifying equitable risk assessments and treatment strategies.